Jeev respects waiting game
Jeev Milkha Singh, India’s most decorated golfer, is handling lockdown – caused by the coronavirus pandemic – with the same mental fortitude that has seen him achieve so much success in the game.
“I took something positive out of it [lockdown],” says Singh, who has been at home in Chandigarh, in Northern India, with his family since mid-March.
“I said it is time for me to work on my mental side, time for me to work on my yoga, time for me to spend time with my family, with my son, and with my parents – who are getting old. My dad is about 90 and my mum is about 85.
“Instead of getting down on myself and saying ‘what is this? I can’t go out’, you have to look at the positives, it has happened, you have to respect it, you have to be a responsible citizen, a responsible human being, and now we need to maintain what needs to be done: social distancing, stay at home, and enjoy time with your family.”
After playing in the Bandar Malaysia Open in March he was supposed to fly to Thailand but the event there was postponed, so he flew to Dubai to practice. But he soon realized that India was going into lockdown and he rushed home to be with his family.
He says: “The good part is that after so many years – I have been a pro for 26 years – I haven’t spent time like this at home. The first two and a half months when you could not go out anywhere was very tough because I was so used to travelling and playing events.”
With lockdown restrictions eased about a month ago he has been able to play golf and not surprisingly says his game is “quite rusty”.
While very aware that it could be a while before his next tournament, he has his sights set firmly on a new, more ‘mature’, phase of his career next year.
“I am looking forward to the Senior tour,” says the two-time Asian Tour Order of Merit winner, who turns 50 in December next year.
“Next year onwards I am a senior, I’m gonna be a little kid in a candy store. I am going to do the qualifying for the Champions Tour next year, in October. I should be exempt in Europe, and Japan because I won four times.
“People ask me if I am looking forward to the Senior tour – I say no, I am looking forward to my pension fund!”
And while playing at the highest level is still an objective, he does have many other responsibilities in the game – including being the host of his own tournament: the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE. Played at Chandigarh Golf Club, he first became involved with the event two years ago.
“Hopefully this year we should have it. It’s on the local Indian Tour, but it all depends with the situation. Each day things keep changing.”
He is extremely proud that the first two editions of the tournament went into extra-time, drew strong galleries and received great reviews.
But success is something that Singh is no stranger to and we can expect more accomplishments when he takes on the legends in the Senior’s game in the not too distant future.
Jazz Janewattananond will tee off in one of the biggest tournaments in the world today: Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament, on the PGA Tour.
He starts at 1.39pm in Ohio, while, much to the delight of the global golfing community, American Tiger Woods – the winner of 15 Majors and five Memorials – is also competing and making his first appearance since coronavirus led to global confinement.
It is a great day for Thailand’s bright and boyish star but today was supposed to be the day when he teed off in, arguably, THE biggest tournament in the game: The Open Championship.
PORTRUSH, NORTHERN IRELAND – JULY 19: Jazz Janewattananond of Thailand plays his tee shot on the first hole during the second round of the 148th Open Championship held on the Dunluce Links at Royal Portrush Golf Club on July 19, 2019 in Portrush, United Kingdom. (Photo by Matthew Lewis/R&A/R&A via Getty Images)
He was exempt for golf’s eldest Major championship as a result of winning, quite emphatically, last year’s Asian Tour Order of Merit title.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has turned the golfing world on its head and it was on April 6, that The R&A announced The Open – due to be played at Royal St George’s Golf Club – was cancelled.
Their statement read: “The Open was due to be played in Kent from July 12-19 but it has been necessary to cancel the Championship based on guidance from the UK Government, the health authorities, public services and The R&A’s advisers. This is the first time since the Second World War that golf’s original Championship, first played in 1860, has been cancelled.”
It went on to explain that The 149th Open will be played at Royal St George’s from July 15-18, 2021, and The 150th Open will be played at St Andrews from July 14-17, 2022.
“Our absolute priority is to protect the health and safety of the fans, players, officials, volunteers and staff involved in The Open,” said Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A.
“We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart. We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but we have to act responsibly during this pandemic and it is the right thing to do.”
In fact, eight members of the Asian Tour were due to be on-the-tee today at Royal St George’s in one of the biggest days of their careers.
In addition to Jazz the four players who qualified via the SMBC Singapore Open in January would have been there now: Joohyung Kim of Korea, Poom Saksansin of Thailand, Canada’s Richard T. Lee and Ryosuke Kinoshita of Japan.
South Africans Shaun Norris as well as Justin Harding and Kurt Kitayama from the United States were also exempt – the result of being ranked in the first 30 in the Final Race to Dubai Rankings last year.
These eight players will remain eligible for entry into the Championship at Royal St George’s in 2021. All exemptions, which had been awarded up until the cancellation on April 6, 2020, will be honoured.
Jazz played in The Open in 2018 and 2019 – both times thanks to the SMBC Singapore Open being part of The Open Qualifying Series: he finished equal fourth in 2018 and won the prestigious event in 2019. That was one of four pulsating victories last year along with the Kolon Korea Open, the BNI Indonesian Masters and the Thailand Masters.
He missed the cut both times in The Open but after playing at Royal Portrush last year, he said: “I still need to make lots of improvements to become a world class player but I believe I still have a chance to be up there.”
Jazz’s two-day total of five-over-par 147, after rounds of 74 and 73, meant he was four short of the cutline.
“It has been a good learning experience. I have made it to The Open twice already and I’ve learnt a lot about myself and my game,” he added.
“I got better with my driving this year but my short game is still not quite there yet. Hopefully I can come back here stronger and play better next year.”
Kim, Lee, Poom and Kinoshita would have been making their debuts at The Open this week and, in particular, all eyes would have been on the Korean kid who has become the region’s new great hope.
The teenage-titan, who turned professional in 2018, has taken the game by storm in Asia in lightning-fast time.
In the second half of last year he won three times on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) – in Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan – to earn a direct promotion to the Asian Tour in 2019.
He then took another giant leap forward and claimed the Panasonic Open India on the Tour in November to become the second youngest professional player to win on the circuit at 17 years and 149 days old.
HONG KONG, CHINA – JANUARY 11: Joohyung Kim of South Korea tees off the first hole during the third round of the Hong Kong Open at the Hong Kong Golf Club on January 11, 2020 in Hong Kong. (Photo by Yu Chun Christopher Wong/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
And last weekend, seemingly unaffected by the long lay-off, he sensationally triumphed in the KPGA Gunsan Country Club Open on the Korean Tour at the tender age of 18.
It was his first victory on home soil and came a week after he lost in a play-off on that circuit.
He is now the youngest winner on the Korean Tour.
Today he tees off in another Korean Tour event, the PGA Open with Sollago Country Club – a rather different golfing landscape from Royal St George’s links golf course but one that will again face the full force of his youthful exuberance.
Royal St George’s would have been hosting The Open for the 14th occasion and it is the only Open golf course to be located in Southern England.
The last time it was played there, in 2011, Northern Ireland’s Darren Clarke prevailed.
Asia’s dreams of seeing one of its’ players lift ‘The Claret Jug’ and surpass the achievements of a certain Taiwanese legend and a young Chinese golfer are on hold.
The Open Championship 1971 at Old Course at Royal Birkdale Golf Club in Southport, England, held 7th – 10th July 1971. Pictured, Lu Liang Huan.
Chinese Taipei’s Lu Liang-huan – better-known as ‘Mr Lu’- famously finished second in 1971, behind Lee Trevino of the United States, in what was the 100th staging of The Open. It remains as the best finish by a player from this region in The Open.
And, Haotong Li from China came close to matching that in 2017 when he stormed to third place at Royal Birkdale Golf Club – where American Jordan Spieth overcame his compatriot Matt ‘Kooch’ Kuchar.
It is a target for all members of the Asian Tour.
This year’s edition would have been underway now although with overcast weather conditions forecast in Kent today – in the true spirit of an English summertime – perhaps it’s a good thing that Jazz is in Ohio and Kim is in Korea, for the moment.
On this day eight years ago Jeev Milkha Singh claimed an exceptional victory in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links, Inverness, in brutal weather – the likes of which he had never before experienced playing in a tournament. From his home in Chandigarh, India – where he has been since mid-March because of the coronavirus pandemic – he talked to Simon Wilson about that special July 15th when, once again in his career, he made history.
Jeev Milkha Singh’s historic victory in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in 2012 was a dream story for the many media gathered there to cover the prestigious event – which was being played at Castle Stuart Golf Links for only the second time.
There were a wealth of great angles and strong story lines to work with, especially when India’s golfing talisman said that while he was waiting in the clubhouse to see if he was going to make it into a play-off: “I was just enjoying a cup of tea and some chocolate cake and watching it on television, and suddenly got excited.”
The cake angle was widely used in most of the coverage and Singh certainly ‘had his cake and ate it’, and enjoyed ‘the icing on the cake’.
But, the win certainly wasn’t a ‘piece of cake’.
For while it was a dream narrative for the press, the victory went beyond Singh’s wildest dreams in the wildest weather he had ever played in.
“Let me tell you, it was one of the toughest days you could have played golf in,” says Singh about the final day.
“It was cold and windy and there was rain. There were all three coming together. I didn’t have any sensation in my hands because it was so cold. At times there was torrential rain, and the wind was blowing right to left at about 30 or 40 mph.
“I remember the rain. After I had put the umbrella down to hit shots it was like somebody was putting a needle in your face.”
The weather was one thing, his position on the leaderboard another.
He started that Sunday five shots off the lead, which was held by Italian Francesco Molinari – the leader after each of the first three days.
Defending champion Luke Donald from England was in the hunt, as was American Phil Mickelson, Germany’s Martin Kaymer, Swede Henrik Stenson, Ireland’s Shane Lowry and many other household names.
INVERNESS, SCOTLAND – JULY 15: Jeev Milkha Singh of India celebrates holing a putt for victory during a playoff against Francesco Molinari of Italy on the 18th green during the final round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links on July 15, 2012 in Inverness, Scotland. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
The tournament, boasting total prizemoney of €3,136,252 (approx. US$ 3,542,394), was being played a week before The Open and drew a stellar field.
So Singh had his work cut out, but with three European Tour victories, five Asian Tour wins, four Japan Tour successes and two Asian Tour Order of Merit titles already under his belt, his illustrious rivals should have been more prepared with what was about to happen.
The weather had been fine for the first three days but as Singh explains there was a paradigm shift in the elements for the fourth and final round, even though this was summer time.
“On the first hole at Castle Stuart [a 439-yard par-four] for the first three days I hit a three wood or a rescue [off the tee] and then a wedge or a nine iron in. But on that last day I hit a driver and a three iron and that three iron did not go more than 15-feet high and landed about two-feet from the cup. That was an amazing start!” says the Indian star, who was paired with Spaniard Ignacio Garrido at 11.36am – 10 groups and 35 minutes behind the last group consisting of Molinari and Denmark’s Anders Hansen.
He birdied four out of the first six holes, made another birdie on number 10 and then he parred his way in to card a five-under 67 and set a clubhouse lead of 17 under par – a super-human effort in such conditions, especially to not drop a shot.
Says Singh: “By the 13th or 14th hole it was suddenly nice and sunny but still a lot of wind. No rain. On the 16th [a 337-yard par-four] I hit my driver onto the green. And that’s when I looked at the leaderboard, and said ‘man, I’m two short, I might as well eagle this so I can put a score on the board’. But what I do is three putt that hole to make par.”
On the 18th, a majestic and mighty-long par-five measuring 607 yards, he put himself in perfect position to make a four – and really put the cat amongst the pigeons on the leaderboard – but he missed his 12 footer.
INVERNESS, SCOTLAND – JULY 15: Jeev Milkha Singh of India salutes the crowd after winning a playoff against Francesco Molinari of Italy on the 18th green during the final round of the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart Golf Links on July 15, 2012 in Inverness, Scotland. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
“I was interviewed after the round by the media and, like I said to Amritinder [Singh] my coach and Janet [Squire] my caddie, I thought I was going to be one or two short,” says Singh.
“And, I said I am going to go in the lounge, warm myself up, have a cup of tea and a piece of chocolate cake. And Janet went into the locker room to get my bag ready to pack up, but as I am sitting there in the lounge, with my tea and cake, the field came back and I suddenly find I am going in for a playoff!”
That unrelenting wind which had tested Singh so much also played havoc with the leaders – Scotland’s Marc Warren, Swede Alex Noren and Molinari – and he watched them, one by one, as they came up the 18th trying, unsuccessfully, to overtake him.
Home-hero Warren had been well placed to secure a fantastic win in front of fiercely patriotic local support and after birdieing 10, 11 and 12 he had a three-shot lead. But he made a double on 15 and then two bogeys. He needed to birdie the last to match Singh but missed a 25 footer.
Said Warren later: “I might need a little help to get to sleep tonight.”
One down, two to go for Singh.
Noren was equally gutted minutes earlier as he had taken a bogey six at the last, where he agonizingly missed a three-foot par putt to draw level with the Indian gentleman sitting in the clubhouse enjoying his tea and cake.
And so it came down to Molinari requiring a closing birdie to win and emulate his brother Edoardo, winner of the title two years before.
But he left himself having to hole a par putt from nine feet to keep his title hopes alive, which he duly made.
“And then I go to the range,” says Singh.
“I hit 10 balls precisely, then straight onto the 18th tee [for the play-off]. I hit a perfect drive down the left-hand side, and a perfect second shot with a three iron to lay up – there is a big swale there and I didn’t want to get into that, as I wouldn’t be able to see the flag so I kept it on the top layer. Then I hit a beautiful punched eight iron which I brought in with the wind to exactly 12 feet. And, I just said make sure you get this to the hole … I got it the hole, it was in the hole.”
The impressive birdie saw him claim the title and become the first Indian to win Scotland’s national Open.
“There was an amazing crowd there and the etiquette of the Scottish fans was amazing,” says Singh.
“It is one of the best wins of my career, it’s the home of golf [Scotland], that’s were golf started and winning the national championship there, coming from India were I never played links golf, in my life, and winning in those conditions, I was very proud of myself and felt really happy.”
In fact, it is arguably his finest win, but as he explains: “My best win would be the Scottish Open, but then there is also the Volvo Masters [in 2006]. It is a close match because both are very good tournaments to win, it is tough to decide which one is really better. Both were so good.”
The victory also secured him a place in the field for the following week’s Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St Annes – where in only his second appearance at The Open he finished joint 69th, a fine effort after the exertions of Castle Stuart.
The win was also Singh’s fourth victory on the European Tour and moved him ahead of Arjun Atwal [a three-time European Tour winner] making him the most successful Indian golfer in European Tour history – which is still the case today, along with S.S.P. Chawrasia.
And he earned a winner’s cheque for €518,045 (approx. US$585,126) – a significant sum although not as sizeable as his most lucrative win, which was the US$795,500 he received for claiming the 2008 Singapore Open – which virtually assured him of the Asian Tour Order of Merit title.
“I was playing well before the event but I could not get all four rounds together but that week I got everything together. At the end of the day, for every golfer, the most important thing is for the ‘belief system’ to kick in. I don’t know what happened that week but the believe system was so good,” says Singh.
Clearly, Singh’s win in Scotland was a dream come true for him and eight years on that memorable victory in the northernmost city of the United Kingdom is still very clear and present and still tastes as sweet as that clubhouse chocolate cake.
Australian Scott Hend is presently at home in Florida getting ready for the restart of the European Tour and their new ‘UK swing’ later this month. The 10-time Asian Tour winner – who is slated to make his fourth appearance at US Open in September – is raring to go and, during a time of reflection for many, he spoke to Simon Wilson about his rise to become one of the region’s most prolific winners.
SOUTHPORT-ENGLAND – The 146th Open Championship at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club, July 20-23, 2017. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
When Scott Hend was growing up in Australia and first started to think about making a career out of golf, he says: “I just wanted to play golf for a living. I didn’t think about winning events or how many I could win. I just wanted to play … on golf courses everywhere.”
Perhaps this was just cautious optimism but whatever the strategy he went on to achieve those early ambitions and so much more.
If, back then, he had said: “I want to become one of the most successful players in the history of the Asian Tour, win 10 events there, win on the European Tour and in Australia, play on the PGA Tour, and compete for my country in the Olympics”, well then he would have been a golfing prophet, as all those boxes have also been ticked.
To put it simply, the Australian has been, arguably, the most dominant player on the Asian Tour for the past 13 years and monopolized the Order of Merit list.
In 2016, he became the first Australian to win the Merit title and, impressively, he also finished second on three occasions – in 2013, 2015 and 2019 – and was fourth four times – in 2007, 2009, 2014 and 2017.
Hend was crowned the 2016 Order of Merit champion following the conclusion of Hong Kong Open that year. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
And when he claimed his 10th Asian Tour title in March 2019 – the Maybank Championship in Malaysia – he moved into second place on the Career Money List.
He is still in second place today with earnings of US$5,084,342 while trailblazing Thai golfer Thongchai Jaidee – a 13-time winner on the Tour – leads the way with winnings of US$5,744,337.
With an innate ability to hit the golf ball prodigious distances, he has harnessed that raw power to devastating effect and beaten some of the best players in the world.
“When I was taught to play golf I was told to hit it as hard as you can,” says Hend, who represented Australia in the 2016 Rio Olympics along with Marcus Fraser.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – AUGUST 08: Scott Hend of Australia in front of the Olympic rings during a practice round at Olympic Golf Course on August 8, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
“I have been fortunate since I started playing golf to be able to create some decent club-head speed. Not everybody can do that. I am lucky, I have been able to do that and stay relatively injury free. But these days I am more like an average length compared to all the young guys.”
The Australian also had an operation in 2012 to remove an overactive thyroid – which he feels helped his game as it calmed his sometimes fiery persona.
For the moment though, the coronavirus pandemic and its resulting restrictions around the globe have put his playing schedule on hold.
“This is easily the longest break I have had in 26 years,” says the 46-year-old Queenslander.
“It has been okay but it has also been frustrating. Not being able to play tournaments for me has been a very frustrating thing. There is nothing we can do about it. Guys get injured for six or seven weeks but four months feels like forever!”
He was at the Qatar Masters in early March but had to withdraw through an injury and decided to head to Bangkok for treatment.
His wife Leanne and teenage twins Aston and McLaren – yes, he is a lover of fast cars – joined him there on March 20 and it was on that day, when they landed, that Asia basically went into lockdown.
They ended up staying there for two months before being able to buy new tickets to get home to Florida, where he is based since 2003.
He said: “We thought we would just get home as opposed to staying in a friend’s apartment”.
CRANS-MONTANA, SWITZERLAND – SEPTEMBER 10: Scott Hend of Australia lines up a putt as his wife/caddie Leanne Hend looks on at the Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre Golf Club on September 10, 2017 in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
“Since the European Tour announced they will return for the UK swing I have been back out the last two-and-a-half weeks solidly hitting balls every day trying to get back into it. Hitting golf balls and playing golf are two completely different things. It is going to be interesting when we actually get on the golf course and play,” added Hend.
He plans to fly to the UK on July 17 for a six-week stretch, where his caddie for the past seven years and former Tour professional Tony Carolan will join him.
They will then fly back to America to prepare for what will be his fourth appearance in the US Open – which is being played at Winged Foot Golf Club in New York from September 17-20.
They are returning to the United States two weeks before the tournament just in case they have to quarantine.
The 120th US Open has allocated one spot to the top finisher of the 2019 Asian Tour Order of Merit. With reigning Merit champion Jazz Janewattananond already exempt through his Official World Golf Ranking in March, second-placed Hend will take the coveted spot in the prestigious event where he made his Major debut in 2004.
“It is going to be pretty cool. The last time I played Winged Foot was in the 2006 US Open and Geoff Ogilvy won, I finished T32,” he said.
MAMARONECK, NY – JUNE 17: Scott Hend of Australia hits a shot as his caddie Ray Farnell looks on during the third round of the 2006 US Open Championship at Winged Foot Golf Club on June 17, 2006 in Mamaroneck, New York. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
Exactly when he will be able to return and play on the Asian Tour will be determined over the coming months, when the situation here becomes clearer.
His time spent in Asia has brought rich rewards, instilled a belief in his game and been at the heart of his success as a Tour professional.
Early on in his career, he played on the Canadian Tour for many years – winning the Victoria Open in 2002 – before deciding play on the PGA Tour in 2004, which was when he bought a house in Florida and as he says: “set up shop there”.
But after two seasons, injuries (wrist) and playing poorly saw him lose his playing rights and he turned his attention to the Far East and the Asian Tour Qualifying School in 2006.
“I finished second to Ben Leong (at the Qualifying School). My kids were born in December 2006 and then I went straight to Pakistan and finished second and from there on it was ‘happy days’ on the Asian Tour,” says Hend.
His first win came in 2008 at the Pertamina Indonesia Presidents Invitational while his most recent was the 2019 Maybank Championship.
He enjoyed a bumper year in 2013 claiming three titles: in the Chiangmai Golf Classic, the Mercuries Taiwan Masters, and the Macau Open.
HUA HIN – THAILAND – Scott Hend of Australia is sprayed with champagne on the 18th green on Sunday March 13, 2016 during the final round of the True Thailand Classic presented by Chang at Black Mountain Golf Club, Hua Hin, Thailand. A USD$ 1.75 million event co-sanctioned with the European and Asian Tour. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
But he rates his win in the Hong Kong Open in 2014 as his finest as it was jointly-sanctioned with the European Tour and allowed him to earn his card there for the first time. He is also extremely proud to have won an event steeped in history, boasting so many great Australians as past champions.
“I have a lot of friends in Asia, I like the people, I like the food, and the golf courses are quite similar to where I grew up in Australia. The grasses are very similar. It is not like I am in a strange world. Australia is very close to Asia so it is very similar,” says Hend.
The Australian came so close to winning the Omega European Masters in 2016 and 2017 but lost both times in sudden-death play-off, to Swede Alex Noren and then Matthew Fitzpatrick from England.
“The first one wasn’t that bad because Alex holed a fantastic putt to win but that second one took a lot longer for me to get over because I hit a putt where I thought I should have but I just mis-read it. The second loss was extremely disappointing. It took a fair while to get over that and to start playing good golf again.
“I don’t normally let these things bother me but for some reason that one did. I guess because it was two years in a row and I really, really wanted to win there as I love the place and I really want to win on European soil. The second one was a bit more telling with a bit of a sting in the tail.”
But Hend, having been a professional since 1997, been a member of at least five Tours and won 15 tournaments around the world, has experience in abundance and is philosophical about his career.
He says: “This is the profession we are in, it’s quite volatile, there are lot of guys around the world every year trying to get to a certain place there are only a certain amount of spots and you have to be a realist about it. That’s the way it goes, sometimes you can’t get what you want. Then you just have to work hard and you find other ways to make a living and other Tours to play.
“I am very lucky, I am very fortunate to be able to do this. I get to travel all year and see things, so in that regard my job is quite special. I feel very lucky to be good enough at it to do that.”
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